Diane Schuur and Maynard Ferguson
(Concord Jazz)
Jazz singer Schuur and Ferguson, the trumpet-flÜgelhorn warhorse, are a perfect match. This is not good news. Their styles are similarly cold: flashy but almost devoid of feeling. At 70, Ferguson is still the master technician he always was, but he remains a stranger to subtlety, never insinuating when he can blare instead. Schuur still has the vocal range and flexibility of Ella Fitzgerald, but none of her heart.
Too often this album plays like a slam-dunk contest, where style is everything but understatement sits on the bench. The material isn't the problem—"Lush Life" and "Deep Purple" are among the 12 standards—but the backup band doesn't provide enough contrast to arrangements that indulge Schuur and Ferguson's tendency to go over the top and then scramble to climb higher.
Bottom Line: Two celebrated jazz performers bring out the worst in each other
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